The most expensive part of a cheap office chair can be the second trip to Fyshwick. Before you buy a batch, sit in one, read its model label and work out how many will fit upright in your vehicle. Four similar chairs can mean four different listings if their arms, backrests or adjustments differ.
Two ways to buy used office furniture in Canberra
Ex-Government Furniture sources stock from government departments, universities and commercial offices. Its showroom is at Unit 26, 105 Newcastle Street, Fyshwick, also called 26 Molonglo Mall. The business lists 9 am–5 pm Monday to Friday and 10 am–4 pm Saturday, with Sundays and public holidays closed. A showroom is a useful first stop when you want to compare several chairs and inspect the exact one you’ll take home. Showroom location and hours · Where its furniture comes from
ALLBIDS offers another route when a local catalogue has suitable stock. One listing grouped a Global Alero mesh chair with a folding ladder in a three-item lot. That is a whole-lot collection decision even if you only want the chair. Read the inspection, pickup and buyer’s-premium details on each listing. ALLBIDS says the premium can vary between items. Example mixed lot · ALLBIDS buyer information
A chair inspection you can repeat
| Check | What to do with the result |
|---|---|
| Model and size | Photograph the maker’s label underneath, with permission. Match the model and options when looking up sold prices. |
| Height and tilt | With permission, sit on the chair. Set the height, try the tilt lock and wait a minute to see if the seat sinks. |
| Arms and wheels | Check each arm locks at the same height. Roll the chair on a suitable surface and look for missing or mismatched castors. |
| Fabric and mesh | Look along the seat edge for stretched mesh, damaged stitching or stains. Quote a specific part before budgeting for a repair. |
An office-clearance source tells you where a chair came from. It doesn’t identify a designer model or prove where a particular chair was used. Keep the invoice, model label and any item-specific provenance together if you intend to mention them in the listing.
Does the fourth chair pay for the trip?
Suppose three matching chairs have local sold evidence around $70 each. The fourth sinks and you haven’t priced a replacement gas lift, so give it no resale value for now. Against $210 in expected sales, set aside $30 for collection, $15 for cleaning and selling costs, $45 for time and $45 for the profit you want. Your ceiling is $75 for the whole batch, including any auction premium.
If the batch costs $80 and you need a second $30 trip to bring it home, that leaves $10 after stock, both trips, cleaning and your time. Ask a showroom for its price on the three sound chairs or use the full invoice ceiling to set an auction bid. For a pickup listing, include the chair width at the arms and the lowest seat height so buyers can check whether it fits under their desk. Compare Australian sold listings